Emile Le Gac

Emile Le Gac (24 April 1772-10 June 1840) was a Colonel of the French Army who commanded a regiment of Swiss Foot during the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography
Emile Le Gac was born in Luzern, Switzerland, in 1772. He enlisted in a regiment of the Swiss Foot of the French Army in 1792 at the start of the French Revolutionary Wars. Le Gac was assigned to a regiment on the Italian front and served in combat against the Austrians, remaining in Italy from 1792 to 1812, when his regiment was one of those assigned to invade Russia. Le Gac's regiment performed well at the Battle of Borodino but suffered heavy losses, and the holes were plugged in by fresh troops once the regiment entered French-held Smolensk Guberniya. Le Gac's regiment again fought in the Battle of Chatillon-sur-Seine in 1814, where they repelled a fierce Austrian bayonet charge against the French line. Le Gac retired after the downfall of Emperor Napoleon and died in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1840.